don't go changing
by broken halleluiah
Summary: Meanwhile, in the parallel universe, Rose is alarmed to wake up and find a strange man in her bed.


**Literally the first short and complete thing I've ever written. I don't actually think this happened, nor do I want it to- I want to see David Tennant as the clone in the 50th anniversary special! Just a fun little plot bunny that wouldn't let go of me :)**

* * *

The Metacrisis Doctor normally slept peacefully now that he was human, with the odd exception of when his wife woke him up at half past three in the morning, shrieking and beating his head with pillows.

"Good morning sweetheart-" he began in his best pacifying-an-army voice, just in case something was the matter.

"WHAT- HAVE- YOU- DONE- WITH- MY- HUSBAND!" Rose screamed. Even with bedhead and a murderous expression, he still thought she looked positively lovely in the lamplight. Until her knee connected with his kidneys and his vision went fuzzy around the edges.

"Rose," he gasped, curling his knees to his stomach protectively as pulled her leg back for another go. "Rose, it's me, I'm right here, I-" He paused because his voice sounded remarkably different than usual- maybe this was his being-attacked-at-three-in-the-morning-voice. "I'm your Doctor, we fought plastic people and I said "run" and the kid that goes "are you my Mummy?" and Oods and you made horrid puns and-" He paused again when Rose, still trembling, drenched him with a glass of water. "_Red bicycle when you were twelve_ and I burned up a sun to say good-bye and the last thing I was going to tell you was-"

"Oh. My. Gosh." Rose dropped the glass to the floor with a crash. "You_ did it to me again_. Can you just _warn_ me before you- Oh, Doctor, I-" She buried her hands in her face.

He glanced at the back of his hand curiously, then twisted his arm and inspected his elbow. Hmm. New hand. New elbow. "Will you look at that? I've regenerated."

"Shut up. Just shut up. I need a mo," Rose whispered, wrapping her fingers up through her hair anxiously. "I- I didn't think you could do that anymore."

"Now, I never said that. I just said I was going to grow old and die, but I suppose in the meantime I can still change my appearance."

"You could have warned me- you didn't warn me last time either," Rose said numbly, a bit of the shock and terror finally starting to ebb.

"I'm sorry, dear, I would have if I'd known. Fascinating, I'd put my money on something of a DNA echo still connecting me to my genetic source, which means somewhere, in an alternate universe, I've just died."

He glanced back up at his wife, who was completely tuning out his monologue and struggling to hold back tears.

"Now, don't cry," the Doctor said soothingly. "Am I really that ugly?"

Rose leaned her knees against the bed and took in his new appearance- longer face, smaller eyes, gangly body, darker hair- different hair- ugh, she would miss his hair- and managed a small smile. "No. No, you look fine. Really."

He fingered the hair on the back of his neck and gave Rose a hopeful grin. "Am I-?"

"No. Sorry," she said with a tiny laugh. "Still not ginger."

He sighed heavily. Not ginger, but he still got Rose, so he supposed the universe had been mostly fair to him.

Rose took a deep, steadying breath. "Sorry- I'm sorry for the reaction, Doctor. I know regenerating probably- probably wasn't a whole lot of fun, do- do you need anything?"

He smiled broadly at her. "Actually, I've regenerated in my sleep. That's a first, I'm sure! Remarkably painless, overall, except for the..." He trailed off guiltily, but she saw him cradle his stomach.

"I'm so, so sorry, Doctor," Rose said, flinching. "It's just- it's a human thing. I don't expect you to understand. Don't worry, I'll get past it." And then she murmured to herself, "I've gotten past it before."

"Thank you, Rose. That's most generous of you. Sorry to cause any alarm. Why don't we get a few more winks before the sun's up, what do you think?"

He really still had a nice smile. A different smile, but a nice one.

"Okay." Rose sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned her back against the wall uncomfortably. The Doctor turned out the light and burrowed beneath the covers again.

Rose sat and stared at the ceiling for several long minutes, sneaking the occasional nervous glance at the man next to her. When she thought he was asleep, she slipped out of bed, grabbing her pillow and blanket, and made a break for the couch downstairs.

"Where are you going?" the Doctor called in that childlike whimper he had oh-so-recently acquired.

Rose paused with her hand on the doorknob. "Just takin' a bit of a walk. To clear my head, ya know," she lied.

"Ah. Okay. Have fun. Wait, Rose, when you come back- when you come back, can you bring me an apple?"

He continued to prattle as Rose closed the door softly and leaned her forehead against it. What was she going to tell Mum and Dad?

_"It's all I can think about, apples."_

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**Based on the moment when the Tenth Doctor regenerated and my sister asked me if the clone suffered the same fate... And I said for Rose's sake, I hoped not! XD**


End file.
